Queen’s thump St Andrew’s
Match Report
Unlike the hapless kudu that was struck by one of the Springbok Atlas busses on the way to Grahamstown early on Saturday morning, the Queen’s kudu stood proud after the 1st XV’s comprehensive thumping of St Andrew’s by 38 points to nil, in Grahamstown on Saturday afternoon.
The score-line gives a clear indication of the extent to which Queen’s dominated the game, and the opposition can consider themselves fortunate that the winning margin was not greater, as two or three very good try scoring opportunities went astray for Queen’s.
During the first half, Queen’s played well as a unit and absorbed the pressure that came their way, through dedicated, first-time tackling. Their forwards dominated the tight phases, resulting in poor backfoot ball for the St Andrew’s backs, who battled to cross the advantage line. The result was that much of the St Andrew’s ball was hoofed deep into Queen’s territory, which led to their undoing in the end, as the Queenians were able to launch numerous telling counterattacks, many of which were spearheaded by fullback Kholo Ramashala.
Queen’s enjoyed a significant territorial and possession advantage in the first half and scored two good tries, firstly through scrumhalf Soso Sokicwa in the 18th minute and secondly, through centre Setu Skepe in the 25th minute, hen he slid past the opposition defence, to score, after the ball had been taken through numerous phases.
During the first ten minutes of the second half, St Andrew’s enjoyed their best period of play and did much of their playing in the Queen’s 22-metre area, but were unable to convert this possession into points thanks to the tight Queen’s defence.
One of the decisive moments in the game occurred in the 12th minute while St Andrew’s were on the attack. An error cost them dearly, as Queen’s centre Leandro Lee, was able to gather a loose ball and run 50 metres down the blindside to score. The remaining fifteen minutes belonged to Queen’s with some exciting interplay between the backs and forwards, resulting in three entertaining tries, scored by right wing Mayibuye Ndwandwa, left wing Sbura Sithole and scrumhalf Socikwa. Flyhalf Lionel Cronje converted four of the Queen’s tries.
The Queen’s first team depart on a short tour of Natal during the last week of this term to participate in the Pharos Legends Festival in Durban. They play three tough matches against Westville, Strand, and Glenwood. Much will be expected from Queen’s who will be hoping to return with their record intact.
Scorers:
For Queen's:
Tries: Soso Sokicwa 2, Setu Skepe, Leandro Lee, Mayibuye Ndwandwa, Sbura Sithole
Cons: Lionel Cronje 4
By Mike Boy
There is a little extra on the kudu affair: The young female kudu came off second best and was loaded onto someone's bakkie (presumably to make bilting!). The Springbok Atlas bus also didn't get off that lightly – apparently the windscreen and the front of the bus are damaged quite badly – luckily it wasn't any of our school's minibuses.
This happened at seven o'clock in the morning – not even at night – it's huntin' season here in the Eastern Cape!
